The Quirks Of Dating An Arrogant Toerag
by Imminent Paradox
Summary: All Lily wanted to do was make Sev mad. All Sev wanted to do was get rid of Potter. And all Potter wanted was Lily. So, the solution? Lily decides to get revenge by doing what she swore she'd never do- she was going to date that arrogant toerag.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

I sat by the window, staring out as the rain lashed against the cold glass. The thunder grumbled in its miserable desolation, the lightning flashing in its opaque anger. I wasn't sure what Mother Nature was upset about, but whatever the reason, she seemed to feel as terrible as I did.

I sighed, the noise echoing in the quiet room. Everyone else was presumably asleep- all but me, of course. I had tossed and turned for hours, listening to the storm groan outside. Finally I had just gotten up, deciding to watch as the weather worsened. The harder it seemed to rain, the harder it became to hold myself together.

Why was I letting this get to me so much?

_Because he's been your best friend for years, you prick!_

Right… that would make sense. But that didn't excuse the fact that he had treated me so badly. That fact didn't quell the anger and hurt that bubbled inside of me. I was _furious _that he could act that way towards me; I was horrified that he had called me that. When we were kids, hadn't he been the one that had told me that being a muggleborn didn't make me any different? And yet he still hadn't even hesitated to call me that… that _word._

_Mudblood._

"Ugh," I said into the silence as I wrapped my arms around my legs. This wasn't fair. Part of me wanted to hate him; part of me wanted to scream bloody murder the next time I saw him. But part of me wanted to forgive him- no matter what he'd been getting into lately, no matter how harshly he had treated me, I wanted my friend back.

_What?! You can't give in that easily! He's a pompous arse, Lily! He's getting mixed up in the wrong things! If you go back, you'll get yourself caught up in that dark magic; if you go back, he'll never learn!_

I shook my head. I was confused. I knew that that voice in my head was right. No matter how much I wanted to forgive Sev, I knew that there was a time when you just had to finally throw down the cards and give up. He had used up his chances; he had left me hurt and angry and sorry. I couldn't deal with him anymore. I was done. It was completely over.

_You know it's not done._

I sighed, crinkling my forehead in thought. In a way, I knew it was right- I could end the friendship, ignore him as long as I wanted, but I'd still be hurt. I'd still wish that everything could go back to how it used to be. He was one of my oldest friends. Of course it wouldn't be completely over. At least, not quite…

"Lily?"

I jumped slightly, surprised by the voice. I turned around to see Mary standing there in her nightgown, watching me curiously.

"Oh, hey Mary," I said quietly.

Her eyebrows knitted together in confusion as she watched me. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Why are you up?"

"Couldn't sleep," I replied, my eyes drifting back towards the window.

"Oh," Mary said, her voice knowing. "This is about that Severus Snape, isn't it?"

I didn't reply- instead, I pressed my palm against the cold glass of the window.

"You're too good for him, Lily," I heard her say. "You're a smart girl, and you have your head in the right place, but don't you get it? He's one of those guys who will just hurt you over and over. You've heard the rumors, haven't you? A user of dark magic, a potential follower of You-Know-Who-"

As Mary went on, I hardly heard her. Instead, my mind was flickering through memories of me and Sev. He meant so much to me, but bloody hell, he had hurt me so much! It had simply been a word, but in reality, it had meant so much more- he really _was _going to continue with that Death Eater crowd. He really _was _joining the dark side. And for that, I knew that I could never forgive him. I knew that I couldn't continue to be his friend.

But why did it have to hurt so much?

"You know that, don't you?" Mary said after a pregnant pause as she stopped her ranting.

"Of course," I murmured, thought I was hardly paying attention.

I felt a hand on my shoulder. When I looked up, I saw Mary's concerned face looking down at me. "Are you alright?" she asked me softly.

I nodded, then gave her a small, convincing smile. "Yeah," I said slowly. "Yeah, I am. I think I'm going to go to bed, alright?"

Mary gave me a smug look, and I knew that she believed that she had somehow helped me. That wasn't quite the case, but I didn't want to disappoint her; instead, I decided to play along. "Thanks," I said before I got into my four-post bed. "For everything, Mary."

She gave me a smile and nodded. "Anytime, Lily Bug."

I smiled back, but as a laid down in my bed, I could feel it melt off of my face.

Something inside of me –a small, tiny shard, the only part of me that didn't feel hurt and betrayed –was angry. And it was that part of me that wanted to make Sev feel just as horrible as he had made me feel. I knew that it was wrong to feel that way, but I couldn't deny how badly I wanted it. I knew that that it wouldn't come anytime soon, but eventually, when I was feeling up to it, he would pay. I was patient enough to do that.

I had no idea what that stupid part of me had planned, but somehow, subconsciously, I think I knew that it would put us both through hell.

* * *

**A/N: Okay, so this is my first multi-chaptered fanfic... I just wanted to try it out. I'm not so sure about this prologue, but I thought I'd give it a go. I know this is in first person, but the next chapter might be changed into third person, so don't be confused if it is. (If you want a better summary, you'll probably find it on my profile.) Rated T for safety. Rating may change- it just depends.**

**I'll just say this now: I do not own anything from Harry Potter; everything belongs to JK Rowling. I probably won't put disclaimers in ever chapter, just here. So... yeah :)**

**Anyway... tell me what you think? I'd love imput to know what I'm doing right/wrong. Thanks guys, and have an awesome day!**

**~Imminent Paradox**


	2. Chapter 1

_Dedicated to ellinsin787 and caitiecat345 for the very first reviews! Thanks guys._

_The next chapters will all be in 3rd person- only the first will be in 1st. Thanks guys! __Disclaimer- I don't own Harry Potter_

* * *

**Chapter One**

Platform 9 ¾ was filled with bustling teenagers and their families. The sounds of chattering and squawks of owls was enough to deafen anyone, almost making it impossible to ear anything else.

In one corner of the room, a girl with firey red hair hugged her parents tightly. "-and I'll write and stay out of trouble and everything," she was saying.

Her mother pulled away from her and glanced down at her worriedly. "You promise?" she asked warily.

"I swear, Mum," the girl confirmed. "Everything will be fine. I'll be back before you even know it!"

"I hope so," her mother muttered, glancing cautiously around at the other families, most of which her obviously magic-users.

"We'll see you at Christmas time, Lily dear," her father said, squeezing her shoulder.

The girl, Lily, beamed, and hugged both of her parents once again. "I'll see you soon," she whispered. She turned slightly as if expecting to see someone else, her smile faltering when she realized no one else was there.

"Oh…" she said slowly. "Um… Tell Tuney goodbye for me too, won't you?"

"Of course," her father replied, hesitating slightly. He gave her a apologetic look as he said, "It's a shame she couldn't come. I know she really wanted to…"

Lily, of course, knew this was untrue. Petunia, dubbed Tuney, would do anything not to come and bid her "freak" of a sister goodbye, and had been making up excuses to get out of it since Lily became a second year. This time she had claimed that her friend Marcia was in the hospital, but Lily had heard her talking to her boyfriend Vernon about spending the weekend in London, just so she could get out of this very moment. Vernon, after all, could understand- he had hated Lily the moment he had laid eyes on her. Not that she had ever really taken a fancy to him either- not only was her rude, uptight, and utterly boring in Lily's opinion, but he was rather large, with a build reminiscent of a whale, with beady little eyes drilled into his red, swollen face. Lily wasn't one to judge others by their looks, but seeing as she already resented him, she didn't see anything wrong with expressing her opinion about the fact that he wasn't all that attractive.

But, even with the knowledge that her sister would rather have her eyes gouged out by angry crows than to say goodbye to her own sister, the redhead faked a smile at her parents and nodded. "Of course."

The trio stood there silently for one last semi-awkward moment before Lily said, "Well, er… I'd better be off, then."

"Right," her mother said slowly. "Have a wonderful time at school, darling."

"I will," Lily said, grabbing her trunk. "Goodbye, Mum. Dad."

Her parents waved at her and she smiled halfheartedly in return. She proceeded to turn around with a sigh, dragging her turn with her as she made her way towards the train dubbed "The Hogwarts Express."

Lily would be attending her seventh and final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and thought she was excited, she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed at the thought. It was, after all, her very last year at the school, the one place that she really belonged. What was she to do when the year was over? She couldn't see herself moving back in with her parents.

"Lily!"

Before she could register what was happening, she was being knocked off of her feet and tackled to the ground.

"Bloody hell!" Lily cried, trying to shove her pursuer off of her. "Aphrodite?"

Her friend grinned and got up, helping the redhead off of the ground. "I've missed you so much, Lily!" Aphrodite said excitedly, throwing her dark hair over her shoulder. "How have you been?"

"Alright, I suppose. Actually, I-"

"That's great!" her friend said, cutting her off. "Alive and Mary are waiting for us in a compartment. Let's go find them!"

"Um… Right, then," Lily said, frowning slightly at her Attention-Deficient-Hyperactivity-Disordered friend, silently wondering if she had forgotten her meds.

Aphrodite grabbed her hand and pulled her through the crowd of students. Lily recognized quite a few of them; others, though, were unfamiliar. She also didn't fail to notice that a vast majority of the boys happened to be ogling at her friend.

Aphrodite's parents had been right to name her that- she was gorgeous, to say the least, and that didn't go unnoticed by anyone. She had dark brown hair and soft blue eyes, pale skin and a curvy silhouette. She wasn't the quickest broom in the cupboard, but that didn't seem to matter much to her- she seemed happy enough with her life, probably because she could have any guy she wanted.

Aphrodite said something, but Lily couldn't hear her over the loud guffawing of a fifth year Hufflepuff. "What?" she asked.

"I said heads up, right behind you is Po-"

But before Aphrodite could finish her sentence, someone's hand had latched onto Lily's other arm. "Oi! Evans!"

Lily whirled around, only to come face-to-face with her worst nightmare. "Potter," she spat, pulling away from him.

James Potter, the bane of Lily's very existence, was standing before her, a lopsided grin plastered onto his face. "You look lovely, Evans."

Lily eyes him snidely. "Wish I could say the same for you."

James's face faltered, but only for a moment. He ran his hand through his dark, raven hair, as if he were distressed, but Lily knew that it was just a habit of his- whenever his hair actually started to look nice, he always messed it up again, believing that it somehow made him look better. "Well, I-"

"Oi, James, mate, stop stalking Evans and get your arse over here!" one of his friends called; both Lily and James glanced over to see a handsome boy with long, dark hair falling into his face.

"Looks like Black wants you," Lily said dismissively.

"Er… right," James said, glancing back towards his friends, who were watching the two of them with suppressed grins. "I'd better be going, then. Nice seeing you, Evans."

Lily snorted but didn't reply; instead, she turned back to her friend. "Let's go find the others."

Aphrodite nodded, glancing almost apologetically at James. "Of course," she said, and with that, the two of them began walking back in their previous direction.

After a few moments of silence, Aphrodite cleared her throat. "I think you were being a bit harsh to Potter, Lil," she said quietly.

Lily shot her friend an incredulous look that made her wince. "Whose side are you on here, anyway?" the redhead asked.

"Since when is there _sides_?" Aphrodite asked.

Lily threw her hands up in exasperation. "You're kidding me, right? With me and Potter, there have _always _been sides!"

"Well, I guess…" Aphrodite said slowly. "But there doesn't have to be, does there?"

"You're joking," Lily scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Of course there _has _to be! I mean, Potter is so arrogant and mean and a total smartarse! He's a pompous, bullying, arrogant toerag!"

"Lily…" Aphrodite said, looking hesitantly at her friend. "I don't think-"

"Dite!" a voice squealed. "Lily! It's great to see you!"

The two girls were pulled into a compartment and were basically attacked my two other teens.

"Alice!" Aphrodite cried, seeming to forget about her former solemnity. "Mary! We've been looking for you!"

"Well, took you long enough!" the brunette cried. "We've been waiting for you for forever! The train's about to leave!"

"Frank Longbottom and Charles Corney were about to take your spots," the lighter-haired girl added.

"Well, that's probably because Longbottom fancies you, Alice," Aphrodite grinned.

The blond girl, Alive, blushed, causing Lily and the brunette, Mary, to grin. Everyone knew about the mutual liking of Alive and Frank, though the couple themselves acted oblivious to it. At least, Alice was definitely in denial.

"This is going to be a great year, isn't it?" Mary asked suddenly, grinning ear-to-ear as she glanced cheerfully around at her friends.

Alive nodded in agreement. "This is really it," she said slowly. "Our last year at school!"

Lily tried to smile, but it came out as more of a grimace. She looked down at her feet and muttered, "Yeah… and our last year together."

As her words sank in, the compartment grew quiet. The girls glanced at each other solemnly, knowing very well that the words were true. If anything, they had sobered up the mood quite nicely.

"Erm…" Lily said uncomfortable, desperate to break the strange silence that she had created. "Oh! I have something to show all of you!"

The others looked at her curiously as she rummaged around her pockets and pulled out a shiny-looking golden badge. "Look," she said, gesturing towards it.

Her friends did as they were told. "Head girl?" Alice asked.

Mary grinned at her, raising her eyebrows. "And _this _was supposed to be a surprise?"

Lily's face flushed slightly. "Well…"

"_Everyone _knew you were going to get it, Lils," Aphrodite pointed out.

"Yeah," Mary agreed. "You've always been the obvious choice."

The compartment grew silent for a moment before Alice gave Lily's shoulder a squeeze and smiled. "We really are proud of you," she said softly.

"Yeah," Mary chimed in. "Definitely. Congratulations!"

Lily smiled gratefully at her friends.

"This will be so cool!" Aphrodite squealed suddenly. "Having the head girl as a best friend, we can do anything!"

Lily shot her friend a lethal look. "I think not!" she exclaimed.

Aphrodite's face fell, her eyes pleading. "Aw, come on, Lily Flower!"

But the redhead simply shook her head. "No special privileges for any of us, alright?" she replied. "Now, if you don't mind, I have a meeting to attend."

Alice smiled at her. "Have fun!"

"'Course," Lily murmured as she made her way towards the exit of their compartment. She swore she heard Aphrodite mutter, "What a killjoy," as she closed the compartment door behind her.

Lily smiled to herself. It was great to see her friends again- she had missed them greatly, and she was more than relieved to be able to be with them again. But as she walked to the back of the train where the prefects meeting was to be held, she couldn't help but shake the sad, almost disappointed feeling she had. It was only the beginning of the year, but all she could think about was having to leave Hogwarts to go and live in a house full of muggles. Whether they were her family or not, she honestly wasn't sure how she was going to manage.

But as she got closer and closer to her destination, she began to feel almost excited, proud. She was finally the head girl, a goal she had been hoping to achieve since her very first year at Hogwarts. But as she opened the door to the prefect's apartment, she felt her stomach drop. Everyone's heads had turned towards her, and one familiar face filled her with dread.

"Evans!" a familiar voice cried cheerfully. "Fancy running into you again!"


	3. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer- No ownage here_

* * *

**Chapter Two**

Lily groaned. "Potter, what are _you _doing here?" she asked, giving him a weary look. "Shouldn't you be off doing some sort of shenanigans with Black or something?"

James grinned; just that sight was enough to make Lily suddenly cautious. "Why would I be off engaging in tomfoolery when I could spend my time with you, Lilykins?" he asked slyly, reaching out to wrap an arm around her shoulder.

She rolled her eyes and shrugged his arm off. "It's _Evans_," she said pointedly, "and this is a prefects meeting, Potter! You don't belong here!"

"I belong anywhere you are, _Evans_," he said with a smile, putting an emphasis on Lily's last name.

"Oh, shut your bloody mouth," the redhead said, massaging her temples- she could already feel the headache that James Potter usually gave her coming on. "I don't even want to hear it today."

James smirked slightly. "Well, if you really must know, I-"

But he was cut off midsentence as a seventh year Ravenclaw named Jennifer Cornwell came up to him and cleared her throat. "James," she said, nodding in acknowledgement.

James put on his famous lopsided grin and said, "Jennifer! Haven't seen you in ages, eh?"

The Ravenclaw girl smiled stiffly. "I suppose so," she said dryly. "Erm, I just wanted to congratulate you on becoming Head Boy-"

"WHAT?!" Lily exclaimed, having heard the whole exchange. She looked up at James with a flabbergasted expression. "You- but… What?!"

Jennifer gave her a swift glare, but otherwise ignored her. "-and I hope that you make sure you use that position wisely."

"Of course," he said, smirking at Lily from over Jennifer's shoulder. She simply gaped back at him.

The Ravenclaw gave him a sharp look. "I don't want to hear about illegal products from somewhere in South Africa being smuggled in, alright?"

"Why, Cornwell, I don't know why you'd think I'd do such a thing," James said with a grin, his eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Well," Jennifer said cooly. "Let's keep it that way."

She turned to walk away, giving Lily one final glare before she made it swiftly to the other side of the compartment. The Gryffindor girl gawked at the Ravenclaw, wondering both if she had heard her right, and why she had been glaring at her so steadily.

"I wonder what's got her trousers in a knot," Lily wondered aloud.

"Oh, don't mind her," James said, waving his hand at her. "She's obviously jealous of you."

Lily looked up at him with narrowed eyes. "What are you talking about, Potter?" she snapped.

Said boy rolled his eyes as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Lovely Lily-"

"Evans," the redhead reminded him.

"-don't you get it?" James asked, ignoring her. "You've got everything she wants. For instance, you're the top of the class, you're now the Head Girl, and you've got me!"

Lily gave him a disgusted look. "I do _not _have you," she spat. "But back to what she said… Head boy? Please, Potter, just tell me she's joking!"

"Nope!" James grinned. "Looks like we'll be working together, love!"

Lily narrowed her eyes at him. "But… How can _you _be Head Boy?!" she stammered.

James raised his eyebrows at her questioningly, the action almost mocking. "Looks like ol' Albus Dumbledore things I'd be a good candidate."

"But… But you've never even been a prefect!" Lily managed to utter, her face turning a light shade of red. "Y-you're always getting into trouble, you're immature and mean and stupid… I mean… You're _Potter_, for Merlin's sake!"

James frowned at his, the playful spark quickly leaving his eyes. "Well, apparently that's good enough for Dumbledore, even if it _isn't _good enough for you."

Lily was slightly taken aback by the sudden iciness that had inhabited his voice, but she willed herself to remain unaffected. It was always a hard task when she was facing this particular boy, mostly because she usually had to resist the urge to somehow deflate his–in her opinion–rather large head.

"Well, then, Potter, you'd better be able to keep up, because I won't be waiting around for you!" With that, Lily whirled around and stormed to the other side of the compartment, careful to avoid Jennifer Cornwell in the process.

As the meeting began, they were going over the rules and regulations for the Hogwarts Express. Lily, who knew these by heart, let her mind wander, her eyes grazing over the small crowd of students that surrounded her. Finally, her eyes fell onto a particular person in surprise.

James was standing on the other side of the compartment, his eyebrows knitted in concentration as he listened carefully to what was being said, his hazel eyes completely solemn. She knew that, if anything, this was uncommon- at his best, Potter was usually grinning like a Cheshire cat. There didn't seem to be much that could ever bring him down. Another oddity was that he remained completely silent, whereas Lily wouldn't have been surprised if he had been plotting some prank on the speaker, or at least suppressing laughter as he made some quip about a poor, unsuspecting student in the room. Lily couldn't help but think of how nice it was to see him act so seriously for once.

But as the meeting moved on, and James remained in that same, sober state, Lily couldn't help but feel slightly unnerved. Why wasn't he joking around, or flaunting of his immaturity as he usually did? He didn't even seem to be eying any of the girls like he sometimes did, as if checking which one would be the best to snog next. And, truth be told, though she liked the sudden change, she couldn't help but admit that it threw her off a bit. Something had to be wrong…

Suddenly, before she even knew what was going on, she found herself engrossed in those hazel eyes. James, apparently feeling her gaze, had looked over at her, locking her eyes into place, and though she hated to admit it, she wasn't quite sure how to look away. There was just something in those depths, something so curious and strange… something so _different_…

"_Oh, for Merlin's sake, Lily!" _a voice inside of her head screamed, inwardly kicking her. _"It's James effing Potter! If you're implying that there might be something 'deep' about him, then you've gone completely mental!"_

Lily shook her head, her eyes flying down to her shoes. She was right, of course. James Potter wasn't exactly one to be profound, or anything of the sort. After all, he did live his whole life dedicated to playing pranks and ruining the reputation of anyone who seemed to defy him. (Or Slytherins, of course- she knew that, in his book, they were as bad to him as she was to them. And everyone knew that, to the Slytherins, muggleborns were about as bad as they go.) Whatever she had thought she had seen in his eyes had only been a trick of the light, she concluded. That's all…

She bit her lip, trying and failing once again to pay attention to what was being said. She glanced over at James again, only to notice that he was no longer looking at her. His solemn expression didn't change, though, and she quickly looked away.

The rest of the meeting went like that- Lily would glance between the floor, the speaker, and James, as if she were unsure of which one she should focus on. She was honestly was a little concerned that he had been cursed or something, though part of her wondered why she would even care if he was. Either way, she couldn't shake off the suspicion that something was wrong.

By the end of the meeting, though, Potter seemed back to his older self- at least, partially. He was telling some sort of joke to a few eager-looking prefects, all of who seemed to choke in laughter when the punch line came. Lily suspected that it was all a little over-exaggerated; after all, people had a tendency to suck up to James Potter. If they didn't, they could easily end up on the opposite end of one of his hexes.

The redhead rolled her eyes as she turned away from the scene, readily leaving the compartment to begin her duties. She was stopped, though, after only a few steps.

"Going somewhere, Evans?"

The redhead inwardly groaned, whirling around to look at James again. "What?"

James shrugged. "I don't know… I mean, shouldn't we be working together? We're both the Heads, after all…"

Lily quirked an eyebrow. "What?" she asked. "So I can do all of the work and probably end up on the receiving ends of one of your humiliating pranks? Thanks, but no thanks."

"Lily dear-"

"_Evans_!" Lily practically growled.

James rolled his eyes. "Okay, _Evans._ But, believe it or not, I'm the Head Boy, and I actually intend to do part of my duties."

Lily gave him a disbelieving look. "You're joking. James Potter, actually working? That's a health hazard."

James's eyebrows knitted stubbornly as he crossed his arms, taking a step towards her. "How so?"

"Well, someone's obviously going to get a heart attack from witnessing _that_," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "Don't you have some girl to snog, or some innocent first year to harass?"

"Oh, Evans, I think you underestimate me," James said, a small smile crawling up his face as he took another slow step towards her. "I took care of all of that as soon as I got on the train."

"Of course you did," Lily sighed. "Well, come on, then. Let's get this over with so that I can get away from _you_."

"Why Lily," James said, putting a hand over his heart and making an expression of mock-hurt. "I'm wounded. Why don't you want to spend time with me?"

I rolled my eyes. "It's _Evans_," I insisted once again, "and really, Potter, it'd be great to be around you, but your head is so big that it hardly leaves any room for me. Along with your ego, there really isn't any space left."

"Aw, Evans, though I'm flattered at such compliments, I'm sure my gigantic head and ego would definitely try and make some room for you," Potter grinned.

Lily sighed. "Enough. Come on, let's just get this over with-"

But her breath caught in her throat when she suddenly noticed how close he was to her. Hadn't he been a few feet away just a few moments ago? Now he was right up against her, looming over her so that she had to look up just to see his face. Lily stumbled back, unnerved, trying to regain her posture once again. It was hard, though, when she felt like she wanted to faint.

Bloody hell, how did he _do _that?!

"Whatever you say, love," James said, smiling wryly as he seemed to notice how anxious she suddenly seemed.

Lily felt her face heat up- only from anger, of course. She wanted to make some retort, but managed to bite back her comment; she figured that the less she fought with him, the faster that the whole thing would go. Not that she was actually able to think anything up; her mind was suddenly a muddled mess.

"_Lily, get a hold on yourself, woman!"_

Lily shook her head, trying to compose herself. "Right, then," she said, her voice suddenly strict. "Let's go."

"Of course, your highness," she heard James joke from behind her, but she gracefully ignored him. Hey, you never know- maybe if she acted like he didn't exist, he'd simply disappear.

"Hey Lily, can you believe that we'll be spending so much time together this year?"

Apparently, that wasn't working so well.

Lily whirled around furiously, only to be thrown off because of the fact that her face was now buried in James Potter's chest. Let me repeat: _her face was buried in James Potter's chest!_

Lily stood there for a moment, trying to gather her thoughts. When she came to her right mind, she pushed him away quickly, trying to recompose herself quickly.

"It's Evans," she finally managed to say weakly- the ferocity that she had had before had vanished in a puff of smoke. "If you call me Lily one more time I'll… I'll…"

"Write me up?" James smirked. "Sorry, _Evans_, but that won't work anymore."

"I wasn't going to say that," Lily said quickly.

James gave her a smug look. "_Sure _you weren't."

Lily gaped at him, finding her former anger once again. "Well, I- I wasn't!" she said, narrowing her eyes.

"Then what were you going to say?" he asked mockingly, watching her with a sudden intensity.

"I-" Lily stammered. "I- Oh, never mind! I don't have to prove myself to _you _of all people, Potter!"

As she started to walk away, he grabbed her arm and stopped her. "Admit it!" he said.

"Admit what?" Lily asked, refusing to meet his eye.

"That you have no way to threaten me anymore," he said, then paused. "You know, now that you mention it, you can also admit your secret, undying love for me if you want. I'd be fine with that"

Lily's face darkened to a nice shade of red as her eyes narrowed. She took a threatening step towards him. "First of all, I have a thousand ways to threaten you, Potter," she growled, flinging out her wand and pointing it at his throat, making him recoil in surprise. "Second of all, I _hate _you, alright? I hate you!"

James blinked, obviously shocked at her sudden change of temperament. She saw something that looked an awful lot like hurt flicker in his eyes, but it was gone so quickly that she had to wonder if it was ever really there.

"Um… right," he said slowly. Then he gave her an accusing look, gesturing at her wand. "Isn't that a bit hypocritical when you've spent the last seven years reprimanding me for aimlessly hexing others?"

"No," she said harshly, but she stepped away, putting her wand away. "You'd actually deserve it."

"Why Evans, I'm flattered," he said mockingly. "But I think you're forgetting something."

Lily gave him a confused look. "What?"

He stepped forward, and before she knew what was happening, she found herself cornered up against the wall of the train, his wand held up to her face. "Rule number one," he said smugly. "You never threaten a Marauder and expect to be left alone afterwards."

Lily glanced warily at his wand. Of course, the stupid Marauders- that's what his little group of friends called themselves. She found it pretty ridiculous, to tell you the truth, and often voiced her obvious resentment to the name. Who did they think they were anyway, some gang? That was hardly the case.

"What are you planning on doing with that?" Lily asked cautiously, her voice surprisingly quiet.

A strange expression flickered across James's eyes, but before the redhead could even try to decipher it, he was grinning again. Out of his wand came a puff of smoke.

Lily blinked. "That's all?"

James smiled. "You didn't think I'd really hurt you, did you?" he asked softly. Then he cleared his throat. "I just had to teach you not to mess with the Marauders!"

Lily rolled her eyes. "Of course," she said, pushing herself away from the wall and dusting herself off. "Now… erm… we really should be starting our duties."

With that, she turned around and hastily began to walk town the train's small corridors, trying her best to forget the little run-in she had just had with the very bane of her existence.

Somehow, she had a feeling that this would be a long day.

* * *

**A/N: Hello! I want to say thank you SO MUCH to all of the reviewers- you guys rock. But I'm just curious... This story has been put on alert a lot, and even favorited. It just makes me curious... I mean, people I guess seem interested in it, but it doesn't get many reviews. If you happen to read this, could you please give me one? I'm not saying this because I'm a review whore or whatever (excuse the language), but I'm just seriously curious. What do you think about this story? Why do you find it interesting? Do you think it's a good idea? A bad one? Is there anything you like? Hate? Anything I should work on? After all, I really would like some input so I can know what I should work on as a writer.**

**I'm sorry if I sound kind of... I don't know. I'm just always curious when it comes to what people think about what I write. Also, I want to apologize for the many mistakes last time- I probably should have edited it, because it messed up quite a few things when it converted to FF. Sorry for that!**

**Sorry for the long author's note. But thanks if you read this! You guys are awesome :). Have a great day!**

**~IP**


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